Filling a Naked Picture Frame

Sorry if my post title lured you here in hopes of some gratuitous nudity :-)

I thought I’d ease back into the décor side of things with this easy project. It’s certainly not rocket science though for anyone scratching their head about an easy way to re-claim their glass-less, back-less picture frames here’s how I recently salvaged one of mine.

1. A naked picture frame. I found mine in a charity store for just $15 (which isn’t bad for a large, ornate, gilt frame). Empty, glass-less, second-hand frames can usually be bought for bargain prices.
2. A piece of thin rigid board, cut to fit inside the frames recess. I used a scrap of melamine-backed particle board I found in the shed though you could use anything from thick cardstock to ply. I simply measured mine and cut it down with a jigsaw.
3. A lovely new picture, sized to fit inside the frame and printed onto standard (or high-quality) paper. I found my owl image on-line for free here. I increased the resolution and played with the dimensions a little in Photoshop to ensure it would fit nicely inside my frame (if you don’t have Photoshop you can do this with GIMP, Pixlr or Paint.net which are all free programs). Then, because the image was sized larger than standard paper, I had it printed professionally (by Officeworks) onto 180gsm satin paper for around $5. Taking into account the price of domestic printer ink the cost of professional printing is pretty comparable and the quality is awesome.
4. Spray adhesive. Or any paper-friendly bonding agent, such as Mod Podge etc.
5. Framing tape. Or, if like me you find that too proper, masking tape will do just fine.

Protect any surrounding surfaces and liberally spray your backing board with adhesive. Wait a few minutes for it to become tacky.

Position your print in place over the board then smooth it down firmly to ensure even adhesion.

Place your backed print inside your frame and secure it in place with a border of tape.

Stand back and admire your unique and thrifty new wall bling!

As mentioned above, I downloaded my owl image here for free from Vintage Printables. If you’re interested in discovering some other great sources for free printables, be sure to check out the Free Printables section in my Resource Directory. Just don’t blame me when you’re still in your pyjamas at mid-day ogling all the beautiful images available.

Oh, and by the way, remember that home office makeover I started back when flares were in fashion – for the first time? Well, the photo above may, or may not, be a little peek of my latest progress. Can’t wait to get the space done and share it already!

Sorry Sarah, now I feel like I’ve missed something :-)
What mount are you referring to? If you’re pertaining to the photo for step 3 that is just the back of the frame (as I bought it) with my board sitting inside its recess. Does this make sense?

Love what you did with the picture, I have quite a few frames myself that are empty that I would like to do the same thing with. I just didn’t see in the instructions who to do the mount and the edging.. can you please give me a few tips on this?

I just found your blog and enjoyed your step by step instructions for framing a print. That is a beautiful frame that you found. Your finished product with the owl print looks professionally done! Thank you also for the link for the printables. I look forward to browsing the rest of your blog.

I kinda have a thing for birdie art (just today I was shopping at my local “Good’s” where I spied a horizontal canvas painting of two birds on a branch & snapped it right up) so of course I loved your owl. Plus you did a spectacular job of making a functional office space attractive enough to fit into a common area. Great job, I’ve never seen it done better.

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